Plain And Simple
by MoOsE oF ThE AmAzOn
Summary: Friday night: Lily is trying to finish her homework, James and Sirius are trying to be as loud as the possibly can. What happens when Lily goes over to sort them out?


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Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, as you all should know by now…this chapter's plot also comes from a short story by Paul Jennings.**

**A/N: I'm back! And I have a brand spanking new fanfic for everyone out there! Well… it isn't very new… I started it _ages_ ago… but I just decided to have another go at writing it. So… here it is! I hope you like it!**

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**_Plain And Simple_**

**_Chapter One: 20 Questions_**

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"I cannot believe them!" Lily Evans hissed to her friend next to her, "How much noise can two people make?"

"Lily, this is the common room, and it is a Friday night, give them a break." Lily's friend sighed, and went back to reading her book.

"How can I give them a break? Can't they see that I'm trying to finish my potions essay?" Lily asked, while trying not to look over her chair to the cause of the noise.

"Go finish it up in the dormitory if they're annoying you so much." Her friend suggested without looking up from her book.

"You know I can't go up there! You heard the other girls at lunch; they were planning a big sleepover party to celebrate the start of winter or some garbage." Lily snapped at her friend and looked over to the other side of the room, "What is it that they find so amusing?"

'If you're planning on starting another one of your rants, I'm off to bed." With that said, her friend shut her book, stood up, and left the room, leaving Lily behind her.

"Some friend you are!" Lily yelled at her before turning back to her essay. It really was quite a hard one, and she had been having trouble in potions for nearly the whole year now. So who could really blame her for getting a little crabby when she was trying to do her homework like a good little girl?

Lily sighed and looked into the now dull fire, wondering if she'd ever get some peace and quiet. The fire let out a loud crack, making her jump slightly. Shaking her head, she looked down at her not even half finished essay and sighed again. She really had wanted to finish it off tonight; so then she'd have the whole weekend free.

There was another roar of laughter from the other side of the common room, sending Lily over the limit. Really! The nerve of those guys! Just as she was calming down from their last out-burst, they start up again! Deciding that she had had enough, she stood up and threw her essay, along with her book and a quill, on the chair.

"Potter and Black," She yelled as she stormed over to where they sat, "may I ask what it is you find so funny?" They both looked up at her, Sirius smiling brightly up at her, James showing no expression at all. Lily had noticed lately that James had stopped talking to her, even acting a little human when they _had_ to talk during meetings and such. Lily had just dismissed this as a sign that he had gotten over his two-year crush he had had on her.

"Ah, Evans!" Sirius said happily, ignoring her question and standing up as if to greet her, "Just the lady we were looking for! Would you be interested in playing a little game with us?"

Lily's eyes narrowed, "And what kind of game would this be?" Lily asked carefully, not looking away from Sirius's grey eyes.

Sirius looked down at James, who was staring at him looking lost. Sirius gave him a reassuring look, before looking back up at Lily, who was still looking coldly at him. "It's just like that Muggle game Twenty Questions, only a little different." He replied, smiling at her.

Lily stared at him, not believing what she heard. How did Sirius know about Twenty Questions? And why would he want to play it with her? Deciding she didn't want either of these questions answered, she asked a different one, "And why is the game different Black?" She asked slowly.

"Well Evans," He started slowly, probably thinking about the best way he could answer, "I never really was one for guessing which celebrity people are, it all sounds a little stupid to me. Why would Muggle have wanted to guess that? So I thought we'd modify the game a little. Why guess which celebrity people are thinking of, when you can guess who they like!"

"So you want me to take part in a game where you guess who I like?" She asked him.

"Nah… I don't really care about who you like. But I do care about who Prongs likes, and I've been trying to get it out of him for months." Sirius stated cheerfully.

"Then why do you need me!" Lily spat out, "You can ask him yourself!"

"Ah, now that's where you're wrong my dear Evans," Sirius said, "for I'm not really good at guessing games, if I don't get it right within the first few questions, I can crack quite a little temper. So that's why I'm asking you to ask the questions."

Lily thought about this, it really would be nice to know who James had moved on to, and it would be even better to receive this knowledge first hand. With her mind made up, she agreed.

"Brilliant!" Sirius said excitedly, patting his pockets and looking around him.

Lily quietly sat down on a chair across from James, carefully taking in his expression. It really did look like he'd just seen a ghost, and he didn't even really seem aware of what was going on.

"Aha! Found it!" Sirius declared, picking his wand up from behind his chair. "Now Prongs, hold still, I'm just going to put a little spell on you…"

"Padfoot sto-" James started, before being hit by the spell. He suddenly looked dazed, all expressions gone from his face.

"What did you do to him?" Lily asked Sirius, staring at James.

"Oh, it was just a little truth spell, it will ware off in about five minutes." Sirius said calmly, not appearing to be troubled by James' state.

Lily gaped at Sirius, wondering where he got such a spell.

"C'mon Evans! Hurry up and ask the bloody questions! We haven't got all night!" Sirius snapped at Lily

Shaking her head, Lily turned back to James. The first approach would be to ask the easiest question.

"James, do you like anyone?" she asked slowly.

"No." Came his reply.

Lily thought about this, he _had_ to like someone! He was a guy! She decided to try another tactic, it was a long shot, but it just might work…

"James, do you _love_ anyone?"

"Yes." Came his dull reply.

_Score one for me! _Lily thought to herself before she asked her next question, "James, do they go to this school?"

"Yes." He answered again in the same tone.

"Are they in their seventh year?"

"Yes."

Now it was time for the details, "Are they in Ravenclaw?" She asked him, remembering how most boys said that all the pretty girls in their year were in Ravenclaw.

"No." He said.

"Are they in Hufflepuff?" Lily asked, deciding to eliminate each house one by one. Sirius seemed to have faded into the background now; he wasn't even making a sound.

"No."

This really only left one house left, "Are they in Gryffindor?"

"Yes." Suddenly his eyes came into focus, it seemed that he had come out of his trance.

Deciding that she'd continue anyway, she asked her next question, "Do they have brown hair?"

"No." He said, looking at her intently.

This startled Lily, because the best looking girl in her dorm _had_ brown hair. This really only left two more hair colours.

"Does she have blonde hair?" She asked

"No." He said, stilling staring at her seriously.

"Black hair then?" She asked, thinking she had him.

"No." He said still not taking his eyes off her.

Lily didn't understand. That was all of the girls in her dorm! Unless there was another girl she didn't know about, there was no one left. Thinking maybe he wasn't sure on her hair colour, she decided to try something else.

"Does she have brown eyes?" She asked.

"_No._" He sounded annoyed for some reason.

"What about green then?" She asked, thinking about one of the girls who did have green eyes.

"Yes." He said, still staring at her.

Suddenly she felt a little angry. "But the only girl that has green eyes in my dorm has blonde hair!" She said angrily.

"_Think _about it Lily" He said to her.

"How am I meant to think about it when you wont even answer the questions righ-"

Then it hit her.

Lily couldn't believe this, how dare he! All she was doing was playing a simple little game, and he had to go and turn it into this!

"Does she have red hair?" She asked quietly.

"Yes." Came his reply, _still in that same damn voice! _Lily thought to herself as she stared at him. She was shacking now, and she couldn't seem to find her voice.

"She's sitting right in front of you isn't she?" Lily asked, looking down at her feet. She didn't know what to think, all these emotions were spinning in her head.

"Yes." Came his now quiet reply.

"You still like me don't you?" She was still staring at the floor. She was angry with him for not making it as obvious as he used to. She was angry with herself for not working it out. She was Head Girl! _She was meant to be smart! _

"No." He said flatly.

"Then ho-" Then she remembered, stopping herself before she finished, she took a deep breath. "You love me then?" She asked, looking up into his eyes. His big hazel eyes, that seemed to hold as much emotion that she was feeling right now.

"Yes." He said, his eyes never leaving hers.

"Oh…" Lily said, before getting up and leaving the room quietly, her potions essay lay forgotten in front of the fire.

It was only later, as Lily sat in her bed, that she remembered that she had not finished all of the twenty questions she was given.

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**A/N: I cannot believe I am finally posting this... You have no diea how long it has been sitting in my computer!**

**Also, I have no idea how often I'm going to update, as it only just struck me that this would make a good story. I WAS going to leave this as a One-Shot...**

**So... what did you think? Good? Bad? Short? Long? Hot? Cold? Could you press that little blue button that says 'Review'?**


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